It is a truth that human resource is one of the greatest for every organization because in any organization, all other resources like- money, material, machine etc. can be utilized effectively and efficiently by the positive efforts of human resource.

Therefore it is very important that each and every person should get right position in the organization so as to get the right job, according to their ability, talent, aptitude, and specializations so that it will help the organization to achieve the pre-set goals in the proper way by the 100% contribution of manpower.

The Staffing Process is a series of activities performed to employ, manage and retain the manpower inventory to accomplish organizational goals. It ensures the availability of the most suitable person for the Right Job at the Right Time.

It covers various interrelated activities required to fill the vacancies designed in the organizational structure. Besides manpower inventory, the managers focus on securing a potential and competent workforce. We can divide the whole staffing process into two halves:

• Primary Phase
• Secondary Phase

The initial steps, i.e. from Manpower Planning to Placement & Orientation, form the Primary Phase. Whereas, the last four steps come under the Secondary Phase, i.e. from Training to Compensation.

The primary phase deals with acquiring the workforce. However, the secondary phase takes care of the workforce’s betterment and nourishment.

Concept of staff and staffing

The word ‘Staff’ refers to the human resources working in the organization. Staffing is the management of these human resources as per the firm’s requirements. It is a management function that focuses on placing the skilled candidate in a suitable position.

Steps involved in the Staffing Process

 1: Estimation of Manpower Requirements

The first step in the staffing process is to find the number and type of human resources required.

Every job design differs in an organizational structure and demands a deferring skill set, expertise and experience. So, managers must assess the required manpower considering all the influential factors.

In this stage, the managers find out the answer to the following questions:

How many personnel does the organization require?
What type of personnel does the organization need?

To find out the requirement, the managers can perform the analysis in three stages:

1. Work-Load Analysis: At first, the managers figure out the total amount of work the organization need to complete. Also, they ascertain the total number of people required to perform this work.
2. Work-Force Analysis: Secondly, the managers study the existing staff’s skills, capabilities, and availability.
3. Comparison: The variance between workload and workforce represents the exact requirement of human resources. By this, the managers can determine whether the organization is:
   • Under-staffed
   • Over-staffed
   • Optimally-staffed

2: Recruitment

The second step after estimating the requirement is finding the sources of manpower supply. It includes identifying, attracting and inviting applications as per the job requirement.

The manager aims to attract a large pool of qualified candidates. So, the company can select the most skilled and desirable employee to fill the vacancy.

 3: Selection

The next step is selecting and appointing the most suitable candidate from the applications received. It involves both selecting the deserving candidate and rejecting unsuitable ones.

  4: Placement and Orientation

Post-selection, the company assign roles and responsibilities to the selected candidates. It is the most crucial stage because the wrong placement of candidates may hamper the firm’s productivity.

Placement is the assignment of work to the selected candidates. It ensures placing the Right Candidate in the Right Job.

Orientation refers to the sessions organized to familiarise and introduce new employees to the organization and colleagues.

 5: Training and Development

This stage consists of two parts, training the candidates and overall development of the candidates. But, Training and Development are altogether two different things.

Training is inducing and enhancing the necessary skills required to perform the job proficiently. Whereas, Development is enhancing the personality of employees as a person.

Methods of Training

• On-the-Job Training: The training provided to employees in the ongoing job. It is also known as In-house Training. Examples of On-the-Job Training are:-
  • Apprenticeship Programmes
  • Internship
  • Coaching
  • Job rotation
• Off-the-Job Training: As the name suggests, the training is provided by taking the employees outside their job. Examples of Off-the-Job Training are:-
  • Programmed Instruction
  • Classroom Lectures or conferences
  • Films
  • Case Study
  • Vestibule Training
  • Computer Modelling
  • Programmed Instruction

 6: Performance Appraisal

Employee performance evaluation begins as soon as the training finishes. During the assessment, the management considers the employee’s past and present performance against standards.

These standards can be as per predefined or creative criteria. Post evaluation, efficient employees are recognized and awarded with rewards based on their performance.

Some Methods of Performance Appraisal

1. Ranking Method
2. Paired Analogy
3. Correlation Method
4. Grading Methods, etc

 7: Promotion and Career Planning

Based on the evaluation done in the previous step, the promotion of employees takes place. It can be in the form of an increment in the responsibility or the current financial structure.

 8: Compensation

Compensation is the reward and incentives given to the employees in return for their work. It covers all forms of payment to the employees like:

• Salaries
• Incentives
• Bonuses
• Stock Options
• House Rent Allowances (HRA), etc

The benefits of staffing process

• It investigates the required number of the workforce with the necessary skills and expertise.
• This process enables the strategic planning of the organization’s human resources.
• It is a tool for building and maintaining a healthy work environment.
• The success of the staffing process is reflected in the organization’s overall productivity.
• It also helps in achieving the organizational objectives with excellent efficiency.
• The staffing process helps develop both the employees and the organization as a whole